ICANN At-Large Organisation

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn't have one global Internet.

ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit partnership of people from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers.

On 26 June 2003, ICANN's Board of Directors approved a framework for the formation of local and regional At-Large groups to promote structured involvement and informed participation of the global individual Internet user community in ICANN.

At-Large provides a way for the worldwide individual Internet user community to engage in all the issues that are a part of ICANN’s work such as:

Guidance on how internationalised domain names ("local language" domain names) are to be implemented;
How additional new top-level domains (the part of a domain name after the dot, for example: .info, .name, .museum) are introduced;
How to transition from the current Internet addressing system ("IPv4") to the next-generation of Internet addresses ("IPv6") in a stable and equitable manner.

Groups throughout the world that deal with individual Internet users' interests are encouraged to register and participate in ICANN by submitting a simple application form . Groups that meet the minimum requirements will be certified as "At-Large Structures", or ALSes.

The ALSes located in each of the five geographic regions of the world have federated into Regional At-Large Organisations (RALOs), which provides a forum for them to work together on issues that affect their region.

Each RALO selects representatives to the At-Large Advisory Committee, which is a statutory body of ICANN that grants it official standing to advise the larger ICANN community, including the Board of Directors of ICANN, based upon the views of the individual Internet user community worldwide. It also works to bring more Internet user groups into the decision-making processes of ICANN.

ISOC Finland is a certified At-Large Structure Organisation under the European Regional At-Large Organisation (EURALO).

ICANN At-Large Organisation

Further information